Hisgeniusforfable-makingtookanewturn。Manyavisitorwhocametofindfault，wenthometodisseminatetheaptfablewithwhichthePresidenthadsilencedhisobjectionsandcapturedhisagreement。Hisskillinnarrationalsoservedhimwell。CarpenterrepeatsastoryaboutAn-drewJohnsonandhiscrudebutsternreligionwhichinmereprintisnotremarkable。
“Ihaveelsewhereinsinuated，“commentsCarpenter，“thatMr。
Lincolnwascapableofmuchdramaticpower……ItwasshowninhiskeenappreciationofShakespeare，andunrivaledfacultyofStorytelling。Theincidentjustrelated，forexample，wasgivenwithathrillingeffectwhichmentallyplacedJohnson，forthetimebeing，alongsideLutherandCromwell。Profanityorirreverencewaslostsightofinafervidutteranceofahighlywroughtandgreat-souleddetermination，unitedwitharareexhibitionofpathosandself-abnegation。“[29]
Informalliterature，hehaddonegreatthingsuponafarhigherlevelthananyofhiswritingsprevioustothatsuddenchangeinhisstylein1860。Forone，therewastheFastDayProclamation。Therewasalsoadescriptionofhiscountry，oftheheritageofthenation，inthethirdmessage。Itsaimwastogiveimaginativerealitytothenationalidea；justasthesecondmessagehadaimedtogiveargumentativereality。
“Thereisnoline，straightorcrooked，suitableforanationalboundaryuponwhichtodivide。Tracethroughfromeasttowest，uponthelinebetweenthefreeandtheslaveCountryandweshallfindalittlemorethanone-thirdofitslengtharerivers，easytobecrossed，andpopulated，orsoontobepopulated，thicklyuponbothsides；whilenearlyallitsremaininglengtharemerelysurveyors’lines，overwhichpeoplemaywalkbackandforthwithoutanyconsciousnessoftheirpresence。Nopartofthislinecanbemadeanymoredifficulttopassbywritingitdownonpaperorparchmentasanationalboundary。